1) May never get to experience the amazing beauty of a coral reef or enjoy the incredible abundance of food, medicine, income, and protection they provide because by 2050, 70% of the world's coral reefs are expected to be destroyed, and all coral reefs could be gone by the end of the century. Disappearing Coral Reefs | Solutions

Image: Oceana: Our Endangered Oceans and What We Can Do To Save Them | Click for source

Image: NOAA Climate Services | Click for source

2) May never get to enjoy the seafood we enjoy today because already 90% of large predatory fish such as tuna, swordfish, and sharks are now gone, and by 2048, a study done by the Dalhousie University of Canada projects all the species that we fish today to be extinct. Overfishing | Solutions

3) May never get to explore the stunning diversity of life on Earth because scientists are warning that within a few decades, at least half of all plant and animal species on Earth will be extinct. According to the IPCC, direct climate change impacts alone will commit some 20-50% of species globally to extinction, possibly by 2100. Mass Extinction Crisis | Solutions

4) May be more vulnerable to diseases such as lyme disease, malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, plague, and avian influenza, or bird flu, which is poised to become more difficult to control and more widespread due to rising temperatures. Global Warming | Solutions

5) May never get to thrive in a stable climate because the world is now firmly on course for the worst-case scenario in terms of climate change, with average global temperatures rising by up to 6°C (11.5°F) by the end of the century. Global Warming | Solutions

Image: NOAA | Click for source

6) May never get to experience symbolic icons of the natural world, such as lions, tigers, elephants, gorillas, and rhinos, which are all disappearing fast in the wild due to poaching, habitat loss, and more. Poaching | Solutions

7) May never get to live safely in coastal areas since NASA scientists are predicting several meters of sea level rise this century if we continue our current carbon emissions path. Sea Level Rise | Solutions

8) May never get to enjoy today's abundance of vegetables, field crops, fruits, and nuts since pollinators, such as bees, which pollinate much of these are disappearing at rates double their normal. Learn more. Moreover, with every 1 degree Celsius rise in global average temperature, yields for crops like rice, wheat, and corn fall by 10%. Average global temperatures are projected to rise by up to 6°C (11.5°F) by the end of the century. Do the math and it's a recipe for disaster. Learn more.

9) May grow up in a more violent, war-ridden world due to climate change intensifying security threats, exacerbating migration, increasing conflict by increasing competition for depleting resources, such as food and water, and causing more natural and humanitarian disasters, which can potentially cause mass migrations of environmental refugees with anywhere between 200 million to a billion people migrating in the next four decades due to global food wars alone. Global Warming | Solutions

Image: Stanford | Click for source

10) May be living in a world dominated by air, water, soil, noise, and light pollution, which already leads to 40% of deaths worldwide and the malnutrition of 3.7 billion people. Environmental Pollution | Solutions

11) May have to live in a world whose ecological foundations have collapsed. Humans have already transformed about 43% of the ice-free land surface of the planet, and according to a study from 22 respected biologists and ecologists, the world is approaching a "state shift" in Earth's biosphere where once 50% of the natural landscape is lost, there may be an ecological collapse, threatening the web of life, including humans. Habitat Loss | Solutions

Deforestation in Bolivia. Image: NASA | Click for source

12) May have no choice but to get used to more extreme, frequent, and longer lasting floods, heat waves, droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, allergy seasons, air pollution, winter storms, and pest incidences due to rising global temperatures. Global Warming | Solutions

14) May be surrounded by desert due to desertification, which is spreading at rates set to exceed one third of the planet's landmass by the year 2100 with severe drought, currently occupying 8% of inhabited land, rising to 40%, and extreme drought, currently occupying 3% of inhabited land, rising to 30%. Global Warming | Solutions

Change in the recurrence of 100-year droughts. Source: IPCC | Click for source

15) May live on one planet, but need the equivalent of three to provide the resources required to sustain human consumption and waste in 2050.Finite Earth | Solutions

Image: Global Footprint Network

16) May live in a world where water is worth more than gold. By 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world's population could be living under water stressed conditions. With the existing climate change scenario, almost half the world's population will be living in areas of high water stress by 2030. Global Water Crisis | Solutions

Image: UN Water

17) May never experience the raw beauty and true treasures of a rainforest. Rainforests once covered 14% of the Earth's land surface, now they cover a bare 6% and experts estimate that the last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years and certainly by the end of the century at the current rate of deforestation. Tropical Deforestation | Solutions

18) May find it much harder to satisfy their appetites. Each human on earth lives off the farming equivalent of about a third of a football field today. Population growth and urbanization will shrink that available land base in half by 2050. Arable Land | Solutions

It's easy not to care about the trees, bees, and polar bears, but when we realize that their problems are just as much ours and especially those of our children, then people start paying attention.Do more than just pay attention, make a difference in your life, for all life, and for the ecological foundations of life!Not sure where to start?

Very sobering yet interesting information. The time to act is now, not someday! Good work putting this together and having more info and solutions and available.

Reply

George Tsiattalos

1/26/2014 11:18:36 pm

Sobering and interesting, yes. Motivational and eye-opening, absolutely! Glad you felt the urge to act, it's easy to get trapped in the depression of it all. Thanks!

Reply

Jill

2/6/2014 12:24:46 pm

Great compilation! If it weren't for the solutions links for each one, I'd feel so depressed, thank you for opening up my mind to the challenges we all face and offering actions I can take for each one

Congratulations on creating great website! I believe you've done an excellent job in stating your case for action to mitigate the damaging environmental consequences of human activity.

I have an existing website that attempts to promote recreational bicycling in our local area as an alternative to motor vehicle based recreation. I've done this in cooperation with county government agencies as a first step trying to rein in our Car Culture.

Currently, I'm creating a new website that takes a more aggressive posture in promoting cycling for more than just recreation. I'll definitely provide links to your site as part of the justification for reducing motor vehicle use.